W. Mark Ford

Estimating Elk Abundance Using the Lincoln-Petersen Method

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

Achieving a target population size is often the first goal of species restorations. From 2012 to 2014, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources released 75 elk (Cervus canadensis) originating from Kentucky into Buchanan County in southwestern Virginia. These individuals were ear tagged with unique numbers upon release with an additional 33 elk tagged within the Virginia Elk Management Zone (VEMZ) from 2019 through early 2022. To assess post-release population size, we conducted visual driving surveys throughout Buchanan County from January through mid-April...

Distribution of Summer Habitat for the Indiana Bat on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

Hierarchical conservation and management of Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) habitat may benefit from use of species distribution models. White-nose syndrome has caused additional declines for this endangered bat, requiring use of historical presence locations for habitat-related analy- ses. We created random forest presence/pseudo-absence models to assess the distribution and availability of Indiana bat habitat across the 670,000-ha Monongahela National Forest (MNF), West Virginia, USA. We collated historical roost and capture locations, both individually and in...

Distribution of Northern Long-eared Bat Summer Habitat on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

Species distribution models enable resource managers to avoid and mitigate impacts to, or enhance habitat of, target species at the landscape level. Persistent declines of northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) due to white-nose syndrome have made acquisition of contemporary data difficult. Therefore, use of legacy data may be necessary for creation of species distribution models. We used historical roost and capture records, both individually and in combination, to assess the distribution and availability of northern long-eared bat habitat across the 670,000-ha...

Sources of Yearly Variation in Gray Bat Activity in the Clinch River Watershed, Virginia

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

The gray bat (Myotis grisescens) is a cave-obligate species that has been listed as federally endangered since 1976, following population declines from human disturbance at hibernation and maternity caves. However, with cave protection, most gray bat populations have increased. As part of a project examining bat use of transportation structures as day-roosts, we continuously acoustically monitored 12 riparian sites within the Clinch River Watershed of southwest Virginia from March through November, 2018–2020. We used 15 different landscape and weather-related variables in...

Maximum Likelihood Estimator and Nightly Acoustic Count Values as Weight of Evidence of Bat Maternity Activity

SEAFWA Journal Volume 10, March 2023

Since the spread of white-nose syndrome in North America, several bat species have shown precipitous declines in abundance and distribution. With lower netting detection probabilities for the currently threatened but proposed endangered northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) and endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis), determination of presence or absence for regulatory clearance often has shifted to the use of acoustic sur- veys. However, acoustic surveys are unable to differentiate between non-reproductive individuals versus a maternity colony. We used...

Distribution Probability of the Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel in the High Allegheny Mountains

SEAFWA Journal Volume 9, March 2022

In the central Appalachians of Virginia and West Virginia, the Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus; VNFS) is a subspecies of northern flying squirrel generally associated with red spruce (Picea rubens)-dominated forests at high elevations. Listed as endangered by the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1985 to 2013, the VNFS currently is the subject of a 10-year post-delisting assessment. Still considered a state-listed species in Virginia and a species of greatest conservation need in West Virginia, the VNFS serves as a focal target for...

Northern Long-eared Bats in the Central Appalachians Following White-nose Syndrome: Failed Maternity Colonies?

SEAFWA Journal Volume 9, March 2022

Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) populations have experienced severe declines in eastern North America from white-nose syndrome (WNS), yet potential secondary effects on maternity roosting and recruitment remain largely unknown. We documented female day- roosting at two locations in the central Appalachians of Virginia, Back Creek Mountain (BCM) and Rapidan Camp (RC), during 2015 and 2016, ap- proximately six years after the regional onset of WNS. We compared roost characteristics with available trees and roosts recorded prior to WNS at the Fernow Experimental...

Predicting Foraging Habitat of Gray Myotis in Georgia

In the southeastern United States, ongoing urbanization and associated environmental perturbations, such as water quality degradation, potentially affect foraging habitat of the federally endangered gray myotis (Myotis grisescens). Conserving foraging areas of gray myotis is critical to this species' recovery, especially as white nose syndrome (Geomyces destructans) recently has been documented in this species. From 2000 to 2001, we used acoustic monitoring and spatial models to determine foraging areas of gray myotis near four bachelor/maternity colonies in northwestern Georgia. We...

Effects of GPS Sampling Intensity on Home Range Analyses

The two most common methods for determining home ranges, minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel analyses, can be affected by sampling intensity. Despite prior research, it remains unclear how high-intensity sampling regimes affect home range estimations. We used datasets from 14 GPS-collared, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to describe the size and location accuracy of home range estimates calculated from different sampling regimes. We compared monthly home range estimates from seven sub-samples (480, 360, 180, 90, 60, 30, and 15 locations) to the home range estimates of...

Habitat Associations of Bats in South-central West Virginia

Wildlife Outstanding Technical Paper

We conducted acoustic surveys at National Park Service and state park properties in south-central West Virginia to create bat habitat association models across a large, topographically complex and relatively intact Appalachian Hardwood landscape representative of the Allegheny Plateau portion of the central Appalachians. We developed generalized and species-specific groups of a priori habitat association models to predict bat presence using various microhabitat and landscape features linked to body-size, wing morphology, food habits and echolocation call characteristics for seven species....